Take that leap! Let's talk!

Get over the fear of a blank page Coloured pens Quotes Pretty it up! -washi, Stickers/Doodles, etc. am/pm stream-of-consciousness writing Start writing by asking yourself some questions that get to the real meat of who you are! Be honest, this is for...

Just once in your life,....JUMP! It took me 47 years before I jumped! I stood on that cliff,... I stood, and I watched,... And I wished,.. wished for the courage,... I stood,...and I waited,... Waited,.,..and waited for the right time,... I stood,...and I dreamed,......

I have been asked when I mentor an artist, what are some things I might be expected to help them with,…or help them learn.

There is a difference between a mentor and a coach.

A mentor is much more personal,..and coach is much more specific,…

A mentor helps with all aspects of your creativity and coach teaches on a certain part ie: how to paint with watercolour

As a mentor, I support, encourage, make suggestions, guide, motivative and inspire. I am a sounding board, brainstorming buddy, and a friend who is not afraid to tell you the hard truths. I help you focus on improving your artwork/your business sense (if you want to go that route with your work), assist you with the steps on your artistic adventure.

It depends on the artist.

A couple artists that I am working with right now have very different needs.

One artist, I am helping to get focused on the projects that are most important, time management, motivation, sounding board, and accountability.

The other, making sure they stay on track, that they’re completing a project for a client, that they don’t let life derail them, (personal stuff that they are working through).

As kids, we colour with crayons, draw in the dirt with sticks, build forts, and use our imaginations. We create all kinds of fantastical scenes – fairy tales with dragons and monsters that we slay, we climb trees and make them mountains that we conquer, we turn cardboard boxes into racecars and semis, jet airplanes and spaceships. We build, we create, we imagine.

Somewhere along the way, on our road to ‘growing up’, some of us forgot that we had that creative fire within us.

Someone maybe said something to us, told us that we needed to grow up, that we weren’t that good, that our imaginations were silly and childish.

Maybe we thought that taking an ‘artist’ path was not meant for us, or it wouldn’t create the money or prestige we were told we needed to make our lives worthwhile.

Not true. NOT TRUE!!

Think about it this way.

When learning to drive a car, ride a bike or even to write, we aren’t BORN knowing how to do these things!

We had to study, learn, practice, and then learn some more and practice some more!

Some of us had cars break down, had accidents, some got tickets.

We didn’t stop driving.

When someone told us we were horrible drivers, we didn’t decide that we couldn’t do it, that we weren’t able to drive anymore!

Why would we?!?

We KNOW we can drive, we’ve practiced, it’s second nature now.

We can get to some destinations without even THINKING about ALL the details it takes for us to actually drive a car!

Why should you want to be more creative?

Why should it matter?

You’ve gotten this far in life perfectly fine without it!

Art and creative outlets brush away the cobwebs in your mind.

Studies show that Art is GOOD for your brain, that it stimulates the imagination, makes you more observant, it enhances problem-solving skills.

Art boosts self-esteem and provides a sense of accomplishment.

It reduces stress.

Cognitive abilities and memory, even in people with serious brain conditions, are enhanced.

Art therapy has been proven to help soldiers deal with PTSD, and patients to deal with traumatic events in their lives.

Art is a FANTASTIC way to be creative, but it isn’t the ONLY way.

Business owners can be creative in the way they run their business or their dealings with clients. All of us can use creativity, inventiveness, ingenuity, innovation in ALL aspects of our lives.

We only need to learn HOW to access that part of us again.

Why can’t we be creative?

Why can’t we draw, paint, build, imagine?

Because we DIDN’T PRACTICE!

We gave up!

Someone said we sucked!

Someone said we can’t sing, we can’t paint, we’ll hurt our fingers with the hammer!

Whatever!

We are going to prove them WRONG!

We are going to stand up to those negative voices, those negative people, those

Break out of the same self-sabotage, the same defense mechanism that holds you back. Realize what you do to sabotage your plans, dreams, & goals. Change your life.

I JUST realized that when I get scared or nervous, I crawl up in a ball and SLEEP! Now when I say scared or nervous, I don’t meansomething REAL like a bear or someone trying to hurt me,… OH NO!,… I mean of success, of REAL work that would get me to my goals!

Now what I don’t get, what I really don’t understand is that I can work HARD!!

I can do manual labor and help Roy with a sign installation. Or work HARD at yard work, or fixing something on the house.

I can work HARD at putting together my website, research what I need to be able to know needs to be done to get my business going.

I CAN and DO work HARD at all those things.

BUT,…and this is a BIG BUT,…when it comes to FINISHING,… COMPLETING,…I shut down! As in,…all of a sudden (regardless of

As in,…all of a sudden (regardless of amount of previous sleep) my mind says ‘You’re tired,…go to sleep!’

WTF!!! I KNOW what I want to get accomplished, I know what I NEED to FINISH! Something inside me says ‘NOPE,…FUCK THAT,…you don’t want that!’

The upside of this recent discovery is that NOW I know!

The downside is,…WHAT THE FUCK have I been doing all these years!! AND WHY DO I DO THIS!!!

Well,…I know,…I ACTUALLY KNOW what I am to do!! How To STOP allowing my ‘defense mechanism’ to shut me down! I

How To STOP allowing my ‘defense mechanism’ to shut me down! I

I’ve known ALL along!!

It’s called ACTION!!

Be Adventurous in life and in love

It is actually to MOVE!

It is just to GET UP out of my bed (my hiding place)!

GO DO SOMETHING!!

It could be – go for a walk (clear my mind).

Or maybe – do some stretching, some yoga, some Tai Chi.

I even – get to my computer and write a post.

Or possibly – to get onto Periscope or FB Live and talk to you.

It could be ANYTHING,…as long as it is SOMETHING!!!

SOMETHING that gets me MOVING!!

We all have different ‘defense mechanisms’, things we do to ‘protect’ ourselves. Our logical minds sometimes think that what we are doing is going to cause us pain and so it thinks that it is ‘saving’ us from that pain. That stress, that fear of failure, that fear of what others think, that fear of letting others down,…the list is endless!

This ‘defense mechanism’ could be beneficial, BUT NOT when it stops us from DOING. It STOPS us from moving towards our goals, our BIG visions of our dreams!